1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capsule medical apparatus that is insertable into a subject and capable of injecting a medical agent into a living tissue inside the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in the field of an endoscope, capsule-shaped body-insertable apparatuses (e.g., capsule endoscopes) equipped with an imaging function and a radio communication function have been proposed, and body-insertable apparatus systems that capture in-vivo images of a subject by using the capsule endoscopes have been developed. A capsule endoscope is, for example, swallowed by a subject in order to observe (examine) the interior of the subject. Thereafter, the capsule endoscope moves through the body cavity, such as the internal organs including the stomach and the small intestine, by peristalsis of the internal organs and functions to capture in-vivo images of the subject at intervals of, for example, 0.5 second until the capsule endoscope is naturally excreted.
While the capsule endoscope moves through the inside of the subject, an external image display device receives the images captured by the capsule endoscope via antennas arranged on the body surface of the subject. The image display device has a function for communicating with the capsule endoscope by radio and an image memory function, and sequentially stores, in a memory, the images received from the capsule endoscope in the subject. Doctors or nurses can observe (examine) the interior of the subject to make a diagnosis by displaying the images accumulated in the image display device, i.e., the images of the inside of the gastrointestinal tract of the subject, on a display.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-325438 discloses a capsule medical apparatus that allows to externally control operations of pulling out, rotating, or opening/closing a manipulator such as a treatment instrument mounted on a capsule main body, at a specific site.